![Queensland Police assistant commissioner Brian Codd speaks to media at Dreamworld, where four people died after a ...](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/a/p/a/o/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gsib72.png/1478236593396.jpg)
Investing
![Queensland Police assistant commissioner Brian Codd speaks to media at Dreamworld, where four people died after a ...](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/a/p/a/o/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gsib72.png/1478236593396.jpg)
Looming threat of US President Donald Trump leaves our tipsters in the red
![Another poor week for shares mainly as a result of US presidential election worries.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/k/o/e/s/image.related.landscape.120x80.gshslw.png/1478221874586.jpg)
As the US presidential election draws closer, the worry that Donald Trump could win has been the main factor in sending our sharemarket from about 5300 points to 5200 points during the week.
Why governments are powerless to make housing affordable
![Policies to help first-home buyers can backfire.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/d/m/3/g/image.related.landscape.120x80.gsgzh1.png/1478222234221.jpg)
The catalyst for the global financial crisis was US President Bill Clinton's idea that housing should be available to everybody.
The resurgence of 'junk' as home decoration
![Warehouse 8 Interiors auction: 19th-century life-size statue of Jesus which sold for $12,200 IBP.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/h/4/d/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs5znp.png/1478473697299.jpg)
Oddities are now much in demand for the individual touch they bring to contemporary spaces.
Last roll of the dice for Tatts and Tabcorp
![The Tabcorp-Tatts deal is smart, but the outcome is far from guaranteed.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/5/5/e/6/image.related.landscape.120x80.gsdbbr.png/1477642426596.jpg)
There are no shortage of gamblers. But growth is hard to come by.
Sharemarket heavy weather a challenge for tipsters
![Share prices were down this week due to poorer-than-expected earnings updates.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/e/q/2/q/image.related.landscape.120x80.gscsdh.png/1477636392623.jpg)
It has been a tough week for our tipsters given that the sharemarket went backwards.
Shares are a better bet than the Melbourne Cup
![Lucky for some: Trainer Bart Cummings and foreman Reg Fleming after Viewed won the 2008 Melbourne Cup.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/c/d/r/3/image.related.landscape.120x80.gscrco.png/1477878079189.jpg)
Australians love a punt but there are better ways to make money.
The decade that doubles the average person's wealth
![The average person's wealth doubles from when they're in the 25-34 age bracket to a decade later.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/9/5/q/0/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs95gn.png/1477568206062.jpg)
The greatest wealth divide is between those just starting out, and their 35-plus, established selves. Beyond that, the growth in your bottom line is slow and steady.
Motley Fool: The lessons we haven't learnt from the GFC
![The Big Short: Steve Eisman's character was portrayed by Hollywood actor Steve Carell.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/w/l/z/e/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs9gfp.png/1477358511986.jpg)
Watching The Big Short is a sobering experience. Here's what it can teach us.
The reason traders lose money
![People who are prone to be bulls or bears are displaying cognitive bias.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/a/m/w/y/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs94x6.png/1477277297294.jpg)
If you read some of the books on trading, the suggestion is that 60-90 per cent of traders lose money.
Mining services companies ahead while Crown falls on China arrests
![Several employees of Crown Resorts are being held by Chinese authorities.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/f/p/s/o/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs7diy.png/1477012069653.jpg)
Richard Hemming continues to build his lead in week two of the six-week Shares Race.
Anne Schofield sells collection of antique fob seals
![Selection of antique fob seals on sale through Anne Schofield's antique jewellery shop in Woollahra, from her personal ...](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/5/i/d/o/image.related.landscape.120x80.gruuay.png/1476918716410.jpg)
This personal collection, currently for sale, is one that has amazed even veteran jewellery experts.
Six reasons it's nuts to invest in property right now
![Rental yields are tiny right now.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/u/g/9/d/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs5qzu.png/1476942031359.jpg)
Owning a house might be the great Australian dream. But investors should think twice.
Vintage cigarette lighters on trend for collectors
![Alfred Dunhill - Aquarium Table Lighter, London c.1930. Estimate $2000-3000.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/5/h/g/p/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs5hbw.png/1476854086338.jpg)
Smoking may be unfashionable these days, but there was a time when a stylish cigarette lighter was a social necessity.
Tough start to the six-week Shares Race
![Mining services company, Maca, does well for Richard Hemming.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/1/p/5/y/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs24za.png/1476406396554.jpg)
Maca helps one tipster take an early lead.
Motley Fool: What's a defensive investor to do?
![Keep your ear to the ground for financial advice.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/a/7/q/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs193t.png/1476428748723.jpg)
China hasn't had a hard landing, property keeps rising, and cash returns are low ... it's been an expensive time to be a defensive investor.
Consumer caution may dampen property party
![Consumers have been growing more cautious on the housing market, despite high auction clearance rates in Melbourne and ...](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/t/m/5/0/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs0lmy.png/1476751708472.jpg)
Are we seeing a return of the great Australian housing bonanza?
The best way to become a financial winner
![Telstra was one of the big public floats of the 1990s and 2000s.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/1/d/b/6/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs1dc2.png/1476421322311.jpg)
The most likely way to become a financial winner is to make good quality growth investments and then get out of the way and let time do the work.
Motley Fool: The elephant in the bank inquiry room
![Inappropriate incentives are at the heart of the banks' cultural problems. Illustration: Kerrie Leishman](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/w/4/2/7/image.related.landscape.120x80.grykqy.png/1476171025826.jpg)
Bank staff's remuneration is not aligned with their customers' success – only the banks'.
It's a good time to buy Telstra shares
![If history is any guide, the time is right for Telstra.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/o/k/3/l/image.related.landscape.120x80.grykkq.png/1476145874982.jpg)
Telstra and the banks are major income stocks and they share the same pattern of seasonal peaks and troughs over the past 20 years.
Race winner posts 33 per cent gain with back-to-back wins
![The strong performance of Mesoblast moved Money editor Caitlin Fitzsimmons to third in the Shares Race, from second-last ...](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/l/e/m/r/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwyff.png/1475918778485.jpg)
Money reader Mendy Amzalak has ended the four-week Shares Race with one of the most emphatic wins ever.
8 reasons home ownership is one of the best investments you can make
![Home ownership is a good foundation for building wealth.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/s/v/l/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwrke.png/1475760280738.jpg)
You may have to take on a large debt to buy it, but the family home also becomes your biggest asset.
What the banking inquiry means for shareholders
![NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn at the parliamentary bank inquiry last week.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/5/v/1/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwbab.png/1475826574633.jpg)
The big bank CEOs seem contrite at the parliamentary inquiry, but the banks are probably safe from real consequences.
Chinese investors expected at sale of Buddhist and Hindu statues
![A pair of bronze Buddhist attendants, 18th century.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/u/u/z/s/image.related.landscape.120x80.gruuhe.png/1475585497363.jpg)
Demand for Asian art is largely driven by the Chinese economy, which dipped in 2015 but appears to be up again this year.
Was buying Blue Poles for $1.3m in 1973 worth it?
![Jackson Pollock's 'Blue Poles' is on loan to the Royal Academy of Arts in London for the 'Abstract Expressionism' exhibition.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/l/f/v/image.related.landscape.120x80.grtlca.png/1475806359793.jpg)
The government was mocked for spending $1.3 million on Blue Poles in 1973. It's now worth $350 million. Was it a good investment?
Sandwiches for the long run
![Invest for the long term and then you can enjoy a steak sandwich in peace.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/l/1/h/image.related.landscape.120x80.grtl0u.png/1475457778492.jpg)
Contracts for differences let you short companies, but it adds short-term stress to investment decisions.
The king of speculation surges ahead
![Speculative stocks, including a junior miner, have played well for the shares race leader.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/9/h/p/2/image.related.landscape.120x80.grs9qk.png/1475231159281.jpg)
Money reader Mendy Amzalak is doing it again. He has picked two highly speculative stocks that are coming up trumps.
Catherine left an abusive ex and wants to rebuild her finances
![Growing numbers of Australians are renting their homes and investing elsewhere.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/r/1/g/j/image.related.landscape.120x80.grr14d.png/1478563938137.jpg)
Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon has a new column helping fight financial injustice.
Why I changed my superannuation strategy for the US election
![Will Donald Trump be the next US president, or Hillary Clinton? Some fund managers don't care either way because they ...](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/q/t/i/s/image.related.landscape.120x80.grqthl.png/1475473496805.jpg)
It's time to tune into the US election. You may not get a vote, but you can prepare - financially at least.
What to do in a falling share market
![Appropriate reactions to a falling market include, first of all, to sell.](/web/20161108044053im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/k/b/k/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.groefb.png/1477635854999.jpg)
Amuse yourself somewhere warm while you watch and wait for things to get better.